ABS

Keys for better ABS

1. Keep the motion smooth and under control . Don't use momentum or try to race through your reps. Go slowly and strive to feel the muscle contracting without the assistance of any other muscle groups. Momentum robs the muscle from doing the work , reducing the muscle building stimulus.

2. Don't pull your head with your fingers , which can lodge your chin into your chest and distrupt natural alignment . When supporting your head , don't interlock your fingers , your hands should simply be supporting your head , not helping you pull on it . Keep your head in line with your torso by imagining a tennis ball positioned between your chin and your chest.

3. For your maximum intensity on your ABS moves , hold your breath as you complete the move , then exhale at the end of range of motion . Holding your breath allows you to maintain intra - abdominal pressure allowing your ABS to contract stronger.

UNILATERAL TRAINING

Take a single sided approach to your training , build a stronger core and recruit more muscles than ever.

Study - up -: Research confirms that training one limb at a time forces the recruitment of more muscle fibers and requires more force than when using both limb simutaneously . Unilateral exercises also offer the benefit of increased core training. Take for instance the cable cross over . When you bring the cable across your body with one arm , the core work extra hard to maintain form and balance , strengthening your ability to produce intra abdominal pressure , the pressure necessary to protect from spine during your major lifts like the squat and deadlifts.

One sided case -: Lets consider bent over rows . When you use both arms simutaneously , the equal weight on both sides of your body balances your torso. As you lift the bar , it remains straight and balanced . When you perform the exercise with just your right arm , as with dumbell rows , the lack of counterbalancing weight causes your torso to twist toward your one side , forcing you to resist that twisting by contracting your obliques. As you begin to hoist the dumbell with your right arm the momentum generated by the action along with the pulling of your torso muscles toward your left side to resist the pull of the weight on your right causes your torso to rotate toward the left.

Overall look -: If none of that sparks your interest in training one limb at a time , unilateral work helps you determine muscular imbalances from one side of the body to the other. When one limb is stronger than the other , it can have a major impact on your overall aesthetic and symmetry . Nobody wants loopsided shoulders or any other lagging bodyparts to throw off the overall look. Unilateral training helps right those wrongs.

On the safe side -: Finally , the correction of any imbalances will also ultimately play a role in injury prevention in your hips , knees and shoulders. When one limb is stronger it can put undue stress and strain on the opposite side of the body. So when you train unilaterally you can improve the strength and stability of not only muscles but also working joints and ligaments. Over time your body will become better balanced in terms of strength , symmetry and the inner workings of the core musculature.